The present invention relates to network interface devices and enclosures for connecting incoming telephone lines to subscriber owned telephone wiring located on the subscriber's premises. More specifically, the invention described herein relates to network interface devices and modules for use in network interface enclosures, and to network interface enclosures that selectively allow for both individual subscriber and telephone company personnel access.
Since the deregulation of the telephone industry, it has become important to provide a clearly defined demarcation point between the incoming telephone lines and the subscriber-owned wiring located on the subscriber's premises. One reason for this is that it is important to be able to determine whether problems in telephone wiring exist in the telephone company owned portion of the wiring or in the subscriber's house wiring, since defects or faults in the subscriber's house wiring generally are the responsibility of the subscriber and not the telephone company. Accordingly, as described and claimed in related U.S. application Ser. No. 834,736 filed Feb. 28, 1986, a network interface device allows for removable interconnection of the telephone company owned wiring and the subscriber premises wiring and provides the ability to test for proper telephone operation at the demarcation point thus enabling the subscriber or telephone company personnel to conveniently make a determination whether a fault exists in the subscriber wiring or in the telephone company owned wiring when a problem arises.
According to the present invention, a network interface module used in conjunction with a network interface device, such as the apparatus described in U.S. application Ser. No. 834,736, provides a convenient location for various telephone circuits such as Maintenance Termination Units (MTU's), Half-Ringers, Remote Isolation Devices (RID's), etc., and additionally facilitates the removal and replacement of such circuits when found defective. In another aspect of the present invention, individual access panels on the cover of the network interface enclosure allows for convenient individual subscriber access for testing. Thus, for example, in multi-dwelling housing complexes, the network interface test location for a particular subscriber may be accessed without allowing tampering with other subscriber's circuitry.